The Round World Poem by Rosmarie Waldrop

nature's inside, says Cézanne and
frightening
I do not like the fleshy
echo


even so, it is


after this close proof
vision is made
of matter


another mirror


it's possible
the eye knows
even where there should have been a lake


this optic an illusion
look
at the cat, his changing
shapes
a habit


light
color
composition


the subject more than meets the
situation, always
looking
at our own eye